Potato Review

www.potatoreview.com POTATO REVIEW JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 37 INTERNATIONAL NEWS Seed shortage in Otago ANOTHER sudden shortage of seed potatoes recently hit the southern region of Otago, the southeastern region on New Zealand’s South Island. For the third year in a row, most seed potatoes sold out, prompting one South Island supplier to consider increasing growing contracts by 15% next year. IMPORTERS could face retrospective tari s for bringing frozen fries toNewZealand The country’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has announced is investigating the dumping of potato fries from Europe after calls from the local potato industry, according to a report by radio station Newstalk ZB. It says trade data shows that frozen potato products exported from the EU to New Zealand jumped by 50% in June. Chris Claridge, the chief executive at Potatoes New Zealand, said trade partners have been alerted, and importers are now on notice. “MBIEcan put in place temporary taris on importers being sold at what is eectively below cost into the New Zealand market,” he told the radio station. Chris said importers will be warned that this is not a good measure, as the taris could be retrospective. He said any option should be considered that ensures the domestic industry is protected from this activity. “It’s probable to say this kind of thing goes on quite a bit, and other industries are subject to this.” This follows on from reports o lockdowns causing stocks of potatoes to back-up throughout Europe. Germanproducers expand acreage GERMAN potato distributor Helle Niedersachsen’s Managing Director Volker Peters said potato producers are expanding their acreage for lack of a good current alternative. He said the market for table potatoes is on the move again after being hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic. “The marketing of chip potatoes is also working again, although prices are below contract levels,” he said in a recent interviewwith Fresh Plaza. “The French fries segment recorded a small upward trend in September and October, but was again brought to a virtual standstill when the restaurants had to close down again. The processing of the peeled goods is undoubtedly suering the most from the conditions. W. www.agvantage.co.uk E. info@agvantage.co.uk Andy Carse 07768 641122 Michael Gott 07917 903666 Proud importer of Dewulf potato and vegetable equipment